Official Review: Radio Active by William O'Shaughnessy

[evraealtana]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Radio Active" by William O'Shaughnessy.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Radio Active, written by William O’Shaughnessy, is a collection of essays, speeches, and interviews from the author’s half-century in the industry of radio broadcasting.

As one of America’s preeminent broadcast journalists, it is no surprise that O’Shaughnessy would choose to open the book with an ode to free speech, discussing what the term really means in the modern world. He touches on several past American scandals in which entertainers and politicians have been censored or fired due to “offensive speech” and then explains why these speakers, although unpopular in the moment, had a constitutional right to be heard.

Following these opening remarks, the remainder of the book is a hodgepodge collection of thoughts from a variety of sources. Many chapters are transcripts of O’Shaughnessy’s on-air interviews with experts in a vast range of fields, including politics, history, religion, and current affairs. Other chapters air the author’s own opinions in the form of humorous and light-hearted monologues. Still others consist of odes to particular personages, both living and dead; Part V, in particular, features eulogies commemorating the lives of prominent figures such as John McCain, Jimmy Breslin, and Nelson Rockefeller.

With content drawn from as recently as 2018 and as long ago as 1979, Radio Active proves O’Shaughnessy to be a long-standing and distinguished member of the journalism community. Having been unfamiliar with the author prior to reading this book, I found myself doing substantial research on the man himself and on his many guests in order to fully appreciate their exchanges.

I appreciated that the book felt polished and had clearly been well-edited. However, I found it difficult to really invest thought and emotion in the book, primarily because there was no central theme. After the initial argument in favor of the First Amendment, the rest of the book broke apart into discrete, disjointed conversations that didn’t form an argument for any position or a narrative about any subject. Each chapter was interesting in itself, but because there was no connection between chapters, the book was easy to put down at chapter breaks and difficult to pick back up.

Several sections consisted entirely of lists, such as lists of: O’Shaughnessy’s favorite songs; notable restaurants in New York City; the names of people who have been kind to the author at least once in his life; and so on. It was difficult to relate to these sections, except to reflect with admiration that the author certainly took a lot of time coming up with dozens of entries for each list.

Although I do not agree with some of the author’s views, I found nothing offensive or tasteless throughout the entirety of the book. The author does, however, pointedly express both his Christian faith and his conservative political and social views. Particularly sensitive readers of a left-leaning stance should be wary, as the book does not hesitate to demean the “liberal sharks and other windbags” that constantly “harass” notable conservative figures.

Radio Active earns a score of 2 out of 4 for its thoughtful, interesting, and eloquent discussions with a plethora of individuals on a large variety of topics. It loses one point due to its lack of any kind of theme or unifying message, and loses another point for its tendency toward listing, which holds little value for a typical reader. The book would most appeal to conservative readers that enjoy talk radio, particularly those that are already familiar with a large number of noteworthy figures in American politics and high society.

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Radio Active
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Jaime Lync]

I believe in freedom of speech, but we must not abuse our freedom. Of course, as it relates to expressing one Christian faith, it is expected that some persons would feel offended even if you mean no disrespect.
The book doesn't seem like my cup of tea though. Your review is very insightful. Thanks for sharing.

[Juliet+1]

I'm too much of a "liberal shark" to appreciate this book, but I greatly appreciated your review. It's a clear and objective portrait of a collection that must have been challenging to describe.

[xoxoAnushka]

It'd be better if there were coherency present in it. I do like your review very much.

[adamgreenrock]

Censorship is always a bad thing to do but forcing your view points on others isn't a good thing either. If the book doesn't have a consistent theme, it lacks its meaning.

Thanks for your review!

[Amy747]

I fully believe in freedom of speech, however ive come to realise that nothing we do is free when we are so controlled by others in charge of us.

[evraealtana]

I believe in freedom of speech, but we must not abuse our freedom. Of course, as it relates to expressing one Christian faith, it is expected that some persons would feel offended even if you mean no disrespect.
The book doesn't seem like my cup of tea though. Your review is very insightful. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, truly. I believe there is a difference between stating your opinion or beliefs and assuming that others share the same opinions. That applies equally to politics, social views, etc., as to religion. Maybe it's just a human tendency but it seems that strongly opinionated authors sometimes forget that their readers will not all be the same as they are. Thank you for your thoughts, and for stopping by!

[evraealtana]

I'm too much of a "liberal shark" to appreciate this book, but I greatly appreciated your review. It's a clear and objective portrait of a collection that must have been challenging to describe.

It certainly was! I felt the same way; there were times when reading it that I wasn't sure whether I counted as a "shark" or a "windbag" but I was certain that the author would have called me one of them. Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate you taking the time to read my review.

[evraealtana]

It'd be better if there were coherency present in it. I do like your review very much.

Thank you very much!

[evraealtana]

Censorship is always a bad thing to do but forcing your view points on others isn't a good thing either. If the book doesn't have a consistent theme, it lacks its meaning.

Thanks for your review!

I agree. I was so disappointed because I felt that the author had a wealth of hard-won insight to share, but it was presented in a fragmented way that prevented me from taking much of it away with me. Thank you for your thoughts!

[evraealtana]

I fully believe in freedom of speech, however ive come to realise that nothing we do is free when we are so controlled by others in charge of us.

Interesting; I'm listening. Will you tell me more about your thoughts here?

[Amy747]

I fully believe in freedom of speech, however ive come to realise that nothing we do is free when we are so controlled by others in charge of us.

Interesting; I'm listening. Will you tell me more about your thoughts here?

We are led to believe that we are free but in truth, we are only free so far as we play the game society has created for us to follow.

[Rancy_Chepchirchir]

From the review, i'm also having a challenge pin-pointing exactly what the main themes are. It's too broad. Thanks for the honest review!

[evraealtana]

From the review, i'm also having a challenge pin-pointing exactly what the main themes are. It's too broad. Thanks for the honest review!

You're so welcome! I understand the struggle; finding concrete things to say about it when the book itself was so "all over the place" was a true challenge. Thanks for stopping by!

[Manang Muyang]

That's a clever title. Freedom of expression is vital, but it should be tempered by respect for others. I'm myself a "lister." Maybe I can also publish my lists? I'm thinking of the title Miriam Lister, Unabridged.